


WORK

by AnotherGallavichLove



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Awkward!Ian, Confident!Mickey, Dancer!Mickey, First Dates, Flirting, Kissing, M/M, dance au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 21:35:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7548007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherGallavichLove/pseuds/AnotherGallavichLove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ian walks into his best friend's dance rehearsal with the intention of simply watching her - not her really fucking hot dance choreographer. However - things happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	WORK

Ian had his hands buried deep into the pockets of his dark grey hoodie, his fingers somewhat curled as he walked, the air just barely starting to chill his body a little bit, making him want to pull his shoulders up to keep himself moderately shielded from the slight wind that ran around the buildings. A pair of his regular dark skinny jeans covered the skin of his legs, the fabric ending inside a pair of old chucks that looked as if he had worn them day in and day out since the second he had left Chicago three years ago - which wasn’t too far off if he was being honest. His red hair had started to grow out a little bit more lately, a few of the strands blowing around in the weather; at first, the length had only been because he had been way too lazy to go and get it cut, but by now he was actually starting to like it a little bit. He would have to do something about it before he started looking like Kurt Cobain, though, but thankfully he still probably had at least a few months before that would end up happening.

 

Ian continued walking towards the area where he knew the building was located, people rushing and biking all around him, tall skyscrapers towering above his head. When he had first decided to move to New York, he had to admit that he had had about a month or so of regret, wondering what the fuck he was actually doing with his life. he had grown up on the Chicago south side for christ’s sake - practically the polar opposite of New York city. Though he had never really felt himself fit in there with his red hair and same sex attraction towards men, he had felt as if he fit in even less here. Then one day, he had begun to feel a little bit more in place, more secure. The day afterwards had been even better and at this point he wondered if there was even a single city on the face of the earth that could possibly beat this one.

 

Ian swallowed, continuing to make his way towards the building that he had dropped his friend off at several times. A car engine roared in the distance, sounding as if it had some trouble starting up, which was most likely exactly what was happening; they were just barely two days into October, and already the wind was starting to become biting - not teeth chattering or anything like that, but the weather surely turned the skin of Ian’s face a little bit more flushed than it typically was.

 

An airplane passed over his head, just as some girl jogged past him, the rhythm of her steps making him count his own for a second. Then he looked down, his eyes focusing on his feet for a beat, watching the dirty, worn out shoes take the sidewalk step by step until he reached the door a minute or so later. It was made out of complete glass, just as the large windows beside it. On the side sat a device where you were meant to put the code in to enter, but Ian had watched Mandy enter this place a hundred times, so he knew that it was only used at night when the center was supposed to be closed up and locked. So he straightened up a little bit, taking his hands out of his pocket and wrapping his right one around the large metal handle, tugging the door open and entering.

 

Ian sighed a little bit, feeling the building rid him of the slight chill of the late fall air, the sounds of the city growing a lot more muffled. There wasn’t really anything directly around him, in fact it was just a small, empty room, tons of windows placed along the short walls, the buildings outside of said large windows reflecting in the polished, white stone floor. In the middle of it, there was a large staircase, leading down to the basement which was how you seemingly got to the actual studio.

 

He thought that he could hear some slight, muffled music coming from downstairs, so he walked around the railing and then down the steps, said music slowly growing just a little bit louder the further down he walked. When he stepped off of the last step, he was standing on a matte cement floor, the lighting a hell of a lot darker and more basement-like than it had been upstairs. Two doors were placed into a wall next to him, one marked with ‘WOMEN’ and one marked with ‘MEN’. Ian’s first thought was that they were bathrooms, but they could just as well be some kind of locker-rooms, not that it mattered to him right now.

 

In the middle of the room he was standing in the doorway of, there was a large closet-type thing with hooks on it, several different clothing pieces hanging perfectly off of it; all of the t shirts along with the sweatpants carried the same logo, so Ian assumed that the clothes were for sale. The black wood looked to be in the shape of a square, reaching from floor to ceiling and sheilding his vision from the rest of the area just a little bit. He did see a few glass doors in front of him, all three of them leading to dance studios, but none of them had people in them, or even the lights turned on, so Ian started walking a little bit, passing the clothes and taking the few steps towards where the music was coming from.

 

One of the dance studios were occupied, the door cracked open just a little bit, the music traveling out into the main area, though muffled; a beat that Ian now recognised as Rihanna’s work. Ian only looked at the door for a second before he turned his head to his left, looking around for a second or two more, taking in his surroundings. There were a few couches placed against a couple of the walls, a sink put up against the closet thing - Ian didn’t know what else to call it, to be honest. It kind of looked like a closet. But like the closet of a millionaire with how huge it was. Which made sense, he supposed. Seeing as this was a quite popular dance studio, and they surely sold quite a bit of merchandise.

 

Soon, Ian looked back to the glass door and took the few steps forwards, pushing it open so that he could enter, the music quickly growing much louder. He wasn’t sure if Mandy would be upset with him for arriving late or not, but to be fair it was only like ten minutes or so - besides, it had been his idea to come and watch her dance. It wasn’t that Ian was very interested in dancing himself or anything like that, but he knew that it was one of the most important things in his best friend’s life, so of course he would take some kind of part in it if he could. Just as she would sometimes help him come up with things to do at work that would be fun.

 

Ian and Mandy had been friends for almost six months now, and to be honest he very often seemed to forget the fact that it hadn’t been longer than that; it was almost as if they were some kind of platonic soulmates or something along those lines. He had never had someone around him who cared as much as she did - save for some of his siblings, maybe but that wasn’t really the same thing as far as he saw it. It had always kind of felt as if Lip and Fiona cared only because they had to. Which wasn’t fair - but it made some kind of sense with how they had all grown up.

 

The music continued booming out of the speakers, the dancers moving to the beat in a way that Ian didn’t understand how the fuck it was possible; sure, he could do a decent robot if he wanted to make someone laugh, but that’s about as much as he could dance. Mandy had been dancing since she was little as far as Ian knew, so this was a quite advanced class, every single one of the people doing the same exact movements, seemingly executing them perfectly. Ian took a few steps right of the door, sinking down onto the floor by the white wall so that he could watch for a bit.

 

When Ian thought of dance, he had to admit that his thoughts went pretty much straight to either stripping to ballet - something in between had never really crossed his mind, despite the fact that it was obvious that those two were far from the two only types of dances. Mandy had tried to explain what she danced before, but Ian had never really gotten it until just now. It actually looked really fucking cool. Despite the light walls, thanks to the grey cement floor, the studio looked a little bit dreary in comparison to shining hardwood floors like any and all - well, the few - studios that Ian had been inside of before. But it fit with the heavy beat and the way they were all moving.

 

Ian’s eyes had obviously found Mandy quite quickly, so he wasn’t looking at anybody else any more than in his peripheral vision. But they were all dressed in looser clothing like huge hoodies or large crop tops along with sweatpants and leggings - Mandy had a pair of black yoga pants on, a black shirt that ended right at her belly-button, along with a blue flannel button up tied around her hips, the fabric moving with her movements. When they had met, she had had quite long bangs covering her forehead and almost part of her eyes, but now the black hair had grown out, the messy strands kind of flying all over the place.

 

Ian found himself struggling not to bob his head with the music as he watched her body move - this had to be one of his favorite songs at the moment, truthfully. He didn’t even care if it made him basic; he was twenty two years old, he was allowed to go with some of the trends. He had his feet planted onto the floor in front of him, his legs bent a little bit.

 

Mandy’s - well, all of the dancers made the same movements, actually but since Ian didn’t know anybody but his best friend, that’s who he was watching - hips moved in small circles along with the repeated word for a few seconds before she bent down, throwing her hair a little bit. The dance went so fast, the movements complicated enough that Ian couldn’t really keep up all that much, but there was a lot of ass involved and a lot of hips. Ian could imagine that if he had been straight, maybe he found have found the movements hot.

 

Actually - he didn’t have to imagine.

 

Ian’s eyes left Mandy for a second, and he wasn’t sure how the fuck he hadn’t noticed the guy dancing in the front, but somehow he hadn’t until just now. He was so far to the front that he might even be the choreographer or something. A large, black hoodie sat on his upper body, hanging almost halfway down his thighs, meeting the grey sweatpants. His overall frame looked to be quite a bit smaller than Ian’s in terms of height. His feet were stuffed down into a pair of chucks, not very unlike Ian’s own. The sleeves on the sweatshirt were pushed up to his elbows so that he could move a little bit easier - and fuck, the way he was moving.

 

Ian blinked.

 

The guy was moving in a way that didn’t at all suggest that he was scared of not looking manly enough; the few male dancers Ian had seen in the past had had a bit of that attitude to their movements, though of course he hadn’t seen many. One, maybe. Two. This guy was moving pretty much exactly like the females in the group; he was rolling his hips and throwing his body to the music, shaking his ass once in a while whenever they got to the chorus when everyone would gather into a line and place their hands onto each other’s hips before spreading out over the studio again. For a brief moment, all dancers were down on the floor, and Ian nearly had to fight to remember how to breathe with the way he was crawling.

 

Ian had never in his entire life seen a man - fuck, he hadn’t seen a person, period - move in that way. The dance was quite fast paced, which made it difficult for Ian to focus on his overall looks really, so instead he focused on the mere movements, and he could tell that he was hot just from that. He was talented - maybe even more talented than some of the girls in the group, but it was difficult for Ian to judge seeing as the guy was the only person in the room that he could possibly consider hot in any situation at all. The moves continued to involve a lot of hips and ass all through the song, and Ian found himself thinking that the guy moved like something that wasn’t human. No human should be able to move like that. It was as if he had built in buttons somehow, moving parts of his body in ways that Ian would never be able to in a million years.

 

The beats in the song were heavy, and though the moves were sort of graceful somehow in a way that Ian couldn’t really explain - he had also never seen anybody look so manly - once again, in a way that he couldn’t explain. There was just something about him; some kind of quality that he couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but he knew that he had never seen it before.

 

The guy had his hands by his hips, rolling them a couple of times as the song slowed down for a second or two; the movement almost made Ian want to laugh at his own pathetic hip thrusting back at the club way back when. Then the song sped up again, and the dancers were back to moving just a little bit faster again, bending over once, the guy’s lower back popping in a way that Ian couldn’t describe, but thoroughly enjoyed the slight view of his ass even if it was just for a mere second. Since Ian didn’t know anything about dance, it was still quite difficult for him to register every single little movement or step at all, but his throat was still dry as he watched, knowing all too well that he was here to look at his best friend, but he couldn’t. She wasn’t interesting at all right now - only he was. The man in the front.

 

Ian had his hands rested in his lap, making sure that he was blinking and that his mouth was closed, assuring himself that it didn’t look as if he was completely staring, and instead just looking - despite the fact that his only real option was to stare. Goddamn.

 

That man moved over the floor as if it was nothing; as if he loved it more than anything - as if he was born for it. Ian had never until this very moment known that a pair of clothed hips could look so fucking sexy, but with the way this guy was dancing, that almost had to be the best part. It was as if he was some kind of machine or something, going straight from one move into another and nailing all of it. A really fucking hot machine. Ian knew fuck all about dance, but he could tell that this guy was more than talented - they all probably were.

 

With that thought, Ian forced himself to move his gaze back to his best friend where she was doing the same moves, dancing a few meters away from him. She was talented, too. Of course she was. Although she didn’t look half as appealing to Ian - quite fucking obviously. Still, he kept his eyes on her because he knew that that’s what he was really there for. He would be kind of a bad best friend if he were to get completely distracted by the hot choreographer, although it was extremely difficult not to get sucked back into it when he was shaking his ass like that.

 

  
***

 

  
The class continued for a little bit over than an hour more after that, and Ian stayed seated in the same spot all throughout it, watching Mandy though of course struggling not to let his eyes drift back towards the man in the front.

 

They did the same song and choreography pretty much all throughout it, only changing it up once or twice to songs that Ian didn’t really recognize, but the moves were all just as good as they had been to work, similar but only to the point where you could easily recognise that it was the same style; a lot of hips and ass and attitude and Ian even had to bite the inside of his bottom lip at one point, just to make sure that he didn’t end up turning his head the couple of inches he would need to to look back at the guy in the front. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he would end up getting an erection if he did that, and Mandy would laugh at him for the rest of the fucking day if she knew that he thought her dance choreographer was hot. Knowing her, maybe she was even fucking him - Ian had no possible way of knowing, and he didn’t want to.

 

A part of Ian wished that the guy would have stopped for a second, maybe walked the class through some move or something, but the only time he stopped was to grab a quick swallow of water from a bottle in the corner, and his face was turned away towards the other side of the studio for the entire time, so Ian still really had no clear idea of what he may look like beyond the rough shape of his body. All of the people in the studio seemed to know the choreography by heart now, though - which made sense since they were far into the year and Ian had heard Mandy talk about some important performance coming up in a few months - so it wouldn’t really have made any sense if they would have needed step by step instructions, leading them through the dances. Instead they all just danced on, and in the rare few seconds that Ian allowed himself to look at the guy, he noticed that he truly looked as if he was one with the music. He had never really seen anything like it before. Ever. Holy shit.

 

Then he pushed his gaze back to his best friend, keeping his eyes on her for the remaining ten, fifteen minutes.

 

Finally, class ended and the guy walked over to press pause on the stereo. Ian would have liked to watch him some more, but before he could, Mandy came into his vision and he made sure to tear his eyes off of the hot choreographer quickly enough that she wouldn’t notice. Then he pushed himself up off of the floor, a smile making its way across his lips while she walked over.

 

“Hi. I didn’t know you were here” Was the first thing she said, a large smile on her face as they shared a quick hug as a greeting. Ian’s head moved a little bit up and down and he made sure to keep his eyes on his best friend, no matter how much he would have liked to observe the guy some more. Fucking damn it. Once they had let go of each other, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his hoodie once again. As he took half a step back; Mandy took a long swallow out of her water bottle.

 

“Yeah, got here a little bit late, sorry” Ian shrugged, feeling now that she didn’t care all too much. Him watching had never been her idea to begin with, anyway. Mandy put the bottle back down onto the floor as she collected the dark strands of her hair up into a high ponytail, getting it all out of her face for now. All of the people - well, practically only girls save for the guy who Ian just assumed was the choreographer - were littered all over the area now, talking over each other and packing their things together, and it was all almost louder than the actual music had been, if only for the different layers. Ian and Mandy heard each other just fine, though because they were standing quite close to the door on the edge of things.

 

“It’s alright. Are you hungry at all? I’m really fucking craving some pizza right now” Mandy asked her best friend while she untied the flannel shirt from around her hips and instead put her arms through the sleeves as it should be, most likely figuring what she would shower at home instead of having to push her way through the crowds in this place. Then she bent down, placing her water bottle into her fake leather bag and lifting it, hanging it over her shoulder as she straightened up, looking to Ian and awaiting his answer.

 

“Uh…” Ian hesitated for a minute, not because he didn’t want pizza but because in his peripheral vision, he could see the guy bending over to pick up his own bag off of the floor, and it was truly amazingly distracting despite the fact that he wasn’t even technically able to make things out perfectly when he wasn’t looking straight at him. “Yeah” He finally answered after a few seconds, hoping that Mandy wouldn’t catch on to the fact that he had been staring at the fucking choreographer for practically the entire duration of the class - she didn’t seem to.

 

  
***

 

  
Ian and Mandy walked right next to each other, their feet hitting the ground at a matched pace while the weather started becoming just a little bit more grey as the seconds passed; it would most likely start raining any second now if the feeling in the air was anything to go by. Ian still had his hands tucked into his pockets, his gaze looking straight ahead as they got closer to one of their favorite pizza places. The sleeves of Mandy’s blue plaid shirt were just a little bit longer than her arms, so the fabric covered her hands, and the slight space in between where her shirt ended and her yoga pants begun was quickly getting cold, her skin developing slight goose-bumps because of it. Ian cleared his throat, starting to feel the slight wind bite at his cheeks just a little bit, the slight rain starting to pepper the ground right before they finally walked in the door of the pizzeria.

 

A couple of minutes later, Ian and Mandy had ordered their food and they were sitting at their favorite table, right by the large window, hearing and seeing the rain speed up a little bit; it wasn’t at all late in the day but with the clouds in the sky, the lighting was incredibly gloomy, making Ian feel as if it should be at least eight pm or something.

 

The cold weather had rid Mandy’s skin of the sweat - or the feeling of the sweat, at least; it was probably still there - and her hair was collected into a ponytail at the back of her head, the dark strands pouring over one of her shoulders. Neither of them really said much for a beat, and they didn’t need to. They just sat there by the window, watching the rain fall and listening to the slight rumble of the other people that were currently inside of the pizzeria. Ian had his arms folded in front of himself, resting on the dark wooden table, his eyes focusing on one single raindrop that had landed on the glass of the window, slowly trailing downwards.

 

“So what did you think?” Mandy’s voice pulled Ian out of his own head, their eyes connecting over their cans of coke, the sound of the rain increasing a little bit the more it started slamming against the window. It took Ian half a second or so to register what she was referring to, but then of course it clicked that she was asking what he thought of the class. To be honest, he wasn’t all that sure what he was supposed to say - he had been so fucking distracted by the choreographer that though his eyes had been focused on Mandy a lot of the time, he couldn’t really remember how she had danced. Yes, he was fucked up. But that guy, though - holy fuck. Who could really blame him?

 

“It looked great, Mands” Ian nodded his head, getting a pleased smile in return. “I might come in and watch again at some point. If that’s okay with you” He couldn’t fucking help it. But to be fair, it wasn’t just for the sake of the hot guy in the front - Ian also liked taking a part in his best friend’s interests, just as she sometimes took part in his own.

 

Mandy seemed kind of surprised at that question, but ultimately all she could do was shrug. She wouldn’t really have minded it if Ian had never wanted to go again, but it was kind of fun to have someone she knew watching, she had to admit. Then she looked down at her coke for a second, and Ian at her while he gnawed on the inside of his bottom lip, trying to figure out if he should ask or not. It was fucking stupid - he didn’t even know this guy’s name, so why should he ask about him? A part of him thought that because this guy was a dancer, there was a chance that he might be gay, but he also knew that that was incredibly stereotypical and not at all fair, so he shook that. Besides, even if he was, someone like him was most likely already taken. And whoever he was taken by was fucking lucky, whether it was a man or a woman.

 

“What?” With Mandy’s question, Ian noticed that he had been staring right at her for probably quite a few seconds without realizing it. Ian tugged himself out of his head, shrugging a little bit as if to say ‘No, no. Nothing’. Thankfully, she let it go. “Work as frustrating yesterday as you thought it would be?” She asked, right as someone came over to them and placed the large pizza in the middle of the table, Ian grabbing a slice as he thought about his answer for a second.

 

Since he had grown up taking care of basically every single one of his siblings - even Lip and Fiona had been complete messes which was why he had decided to leave for New York to begin with - doing something that had to do with taking care of children had seemed like a good choice for him, at least for a few years or so until he could really figure out his passion. He obviously couldn’t do anything with the army anymore, so he was still figuring himself out a little bit. Being a kindergarten teacher wasn’t all that bad, if he was being completely truthful. Most of what he did included breaking up fights and complimenting the toddlers on the beautiful rainbows they drew - there were more tasks involved of course, but in the end he did like it. Maybe he didn’t want to do it for the rest of his life, but for now and for probably quite a few years into the future, it was a good thing for him to be doing.

 

What Mandy was asking about was yesterday, when he for some fucked up reason had been forced to take care of two classes all at the same time because he was the only one ‘who could handle it’ and they were short of teachers since so many were currently sick. It had gone perfectly fine - although it had of course been stressful running back and forth - it just seemed unfair sometimes. Just because he was good at keeping his mood balanced on a day to day basis - which was incredibly ironic, taking his bipolar disorder into account - he was always the one who got stuck with things like that. Things people didn’t want to do.

 

“Eh, it worked out fine” Was all he ended up saying, and then they both quieted down again, in favor of stuffing the delicious food down their throats, the rain continuing to laugh against the large window next to them. “So…” It was about ten, fifteen minutes later when Ian opened his mouth again, not knowing whether asking would expose him or not. It was stupid as fuck - being this attracted to a person that he had never spoken to in his entire life, or even really seen the face of all that well - but he just couldn’t help it. Mandy looked up, her eyebrows raised in await for him to continued as she chewed a bite of the pizza. “Do you all work out the steps together or is it one choreographer?” It was either a really smooth way in to get some more information on the guy, or a really fucking clumsy one. Ian couldn’t quite tell just now.

 

Mandy stayed quiet for a minute while she chewed her food, having bitten off way too big of a piece. Once she had swallowed, she took a drink from her coke and then talked.

 

“It’s mostly Mickey, but we all have ideas sometimes or whatever” She shrugged, biting off another large piece, lazily looking down into her plate as the rain continued pouring down outside, only picking up more with every second that passed. Ian’s eyebrows knitted together just a little bit as the pieces slowly clicked inside of his head. Mickey.

 

“That guy is your fucking brother?” Ian hadn’t meant for the words to sound so surprised, but there was nothing much that he could do about it now. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t connected the dots immediately, he knew that Mandy had a brother and at some point, she had briefly mentioned that he was a dancer too. But oddly enough - despite Ian and Mandy having been really close friends for over six months now, and despite the fact that she lived pretty much exactly next door to said brother, Ian had never met him. It just hadn’t happened. Mostly because Ian’s apartment was a little closer to their favorite fast food restaurants, along with the fact that he had a huge television, so that’s where they usually would end up on a night where they just hung out. The times that they had gone over to Mandy’s place, they had just never ended up running into her brother.

 

And now Ian was feeling even worse about his… crush? He couldn’t call it that, he had never even looked into the guy’s eyes. Attraction - that was it. He was feeling bad about his attraction, because he knew how he would feel if Mandy somehow ended up with Lip or Fiona - it wasn’t worth it to go there, they were friends. Family was just off limit. Besides, Ian had never once heard Mandy mention anything about her brother being gay, and after six months of seeing each other, or at least talking pretty much every single day, that just seemed like something that would randomly come up one way or another. Long story short - Ian really fucking needed to let it go.

 

“Oh. My. God, no” Ian had had his eyes focused on the can of coke in front of him, but as his best friend’s loud words reached his ears, he looked up, eyebrows raising in question. Mandy had her head tilted to the side, her tongue playing at the inside of her bottom lip like it always did when she got disappointed or annoyed with Ian. “You think he’s hot” Ian should have known how well she could read him by now, damn it. Truth be told, there was no possible way he could deny it, even if he would have seen a large reason to. He understood why Mandy reacted the way she did with the realization, of course - no one wants their friends to think their siblings are attractive, that’s just… kind of weird.

 

“Really fucking hot, holy shit” Ian confirmed with a small chuckle, moving his head up and down as their eyes connected over the table; he didn’t want this to be awkward, and they were so comfortable around each other that there was little to no possibility of that happening anyway, so him just stating the flat out truth and then some was the best thing he could do. It wasn’t as if Mandy’s brother would ever be into him anyway - Ian doubted that he would be as hot as he remembered him if he ever saw him again anyway. It was more than possible that he had built it all up in his head in the hour since they had left the studio. Ian would get over it. Surely, he would.

 

  
***

 

  
“You could have any guy you wanted, why would you want my fucking brother anyway?” Ian was slightly taken aback by Mandy’s question as they entered the building a couple of days later, walking down the stairs and towards the dance studios. Ian’s eyebrows knitted together just a little bit and then he answered without really thinking all that much about it.

 

“I think he’s hot, Mandy. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna try anything, especially if you’re uncomfortable. Don’t worry” They both knew that Ian having a crush on Mickey wasn’t exactly her dream-scenario. Ian would never hide anything from his best friend - aka, he would never lie about the fact that he found Mickey extremely attractive - but he would also never put a strain on their friendship by even flirting with him, it just wasn’t worth it; especially since the chance that Mickey would ever be interested back was so fucking tiny - if that.

 

“Oh, yeah. You’re only here to watch me dance. Again” Ian was looking ahead of himself, but he could just feel Mandy’s eyeroll in between them, and it made him want to protest. Then again, in a way he supposed that he was here to watch Mickey, even if he hadn’t made that decision deliberately. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to see Mandy dance again, too - she was good at it, and Ian thought it was cool to see his best friend take part in what she was truly passionate about. “Anyway” Mandy shrugged once they stood outside of the room, some muffled voices coming from inside the lit studio. She turned towards her best friend, the dark strands of her ponytail hanging over her shoulder. She had her regular yoga pants on, this time with a black muscle tee that reached almost all the way down to her knees, a pair of old converse sneakers laced up over her feet. Her bag was hanging off of her shoulder right shoulder, her hand curled around her large water bottle as she looked up at Ian. “You want to hit on Mickey, be my fucking guest. Just don’t involve me” Mandy shrugged - and probably rolled her eyes once again - as her hand curled around the doorhandle, pushing it open.

 

“Nah. Hitting on a straight guy would be complete suicide anyway” Ian sighed simply, dragging a snort out of his best friend.

 

“Yeah. My brother’s about as straight as a fucking circle” Mandy laughed as she walked over to a corner in the room, dropping her bag down onto the floor after she had fished her phone out to answer some text message or something, leaving Ian to frown and think over the words that had just left her mouth. Straight as a circle - meaning not at all straight, obviously. Damn it. Maybe a tiny, tiny part of Ian had been hoping that Mickey would be engaged to a girl or something, just so that he would be able to shake it off and he wouldn’t have to worry about having a crush on his best friend’s brother, because nothing would ever be able to happen anyway - but now? Well… obviously it still wasn’t all that likely that something would happen just because they were both into guys and Ian thought Mickey was hot - but it was more plausible. And it made Ian’s throat tighten as he crossed his arms over his chest, his long, freckled fingers digging into the grey fabric of his hoodie just a little bit.

 

“So if I do want to hit on him - you would be alright with that?” Mandy was quiet, continuing to type on her phone for another second before she locked it and pushed it back down into her bag, then she looked back to her best friend, shrugging her shoulders as she carried a slight, teasing smile on her lips.

 

“I don’t care if you do or if you don’t, just don’t involve me in that shit. It’s all I ask” After she had spoken the simple words, she started walking over to another group of students in the studio, leaving Ian alone in the corner to nibble at the inside of his bottom lip, trying to figure out what the best thing to do would be - he hadn’t had very good luck with guys in the past, not in the long-run. If he hit on Mickey, it would probably either end up being the best decision he had ever made, or the worst. Maybe he shouldn’t. Fuck, maybe Mickey wasn't even as attractive as he remembered him. It had been a while since he saw him dance, maybe Ian had just built it all up inside of his head a little bit, and maybe Mickey was just a regular guy who was just somewhat good-looking - actually, no. Ian was leaned back against the white wall, when midway through his thought-trail, he saw him again.

 

Since the actual class hadn’t started yet, and Mickey wasn’t dancing and moving around, Ian now had a better view of him. And no - he wasn’t as hot as he remembered him, in fact, he was pretty sure that he was hotter. Mickey was standing at the other end of the room, talking to a few people, his arms crossed over his chest. This time, his body wasn’t covered in that large, black hoodie. Instead, he had on a thin, white v neck - the neckline almost going down in between his nipples. His shorts looked to be a pair of sweatpants that he had just cut off by the knee, but for some reason, Ian wasn’t focusing on his body all too much. The other day, he had never gotten the chance to look at his face that closely, and though Mickey wasn’t looking at him and they were several meters apart, Ian could see him quite clearly now.

 

Mickey didn’t look all too similar to his sister, his face was round - not as in he was fat or anything like that, just round; it was cute - his dark eyebrows were perfectly arched, raised as he smiled at something one of his students had said. And if Ian had thought that his dancing was sexy, it was nothing in comparison to his lips. They were thick and pink, even pulled up into that smile and Ian had to force himself to look away from the feature to avoid getting an erection in the middle of a crowded and well-lit dance studio. God fucking damn it. Ian shook his head a little bit, forcing the thoughts to fade a little bit as he tore his eyes off of Mickey completely, walking back towards Mandy’s bag and sitting down next to it, his legs slightly folded while he fished his phone out of his pocket, if only so that he wouldn’t be staring at her brother way too much.

 

Texting and playing games on his phone worked for Ian to distract himself for the five minutes it took for the class to begin, but once it did, all of the students gathered in the middle of the floor, and Ian could help but lock the device and look up, his eyes finding Mandy - though a larger part of him wanted to look at Mickey, but he tried his best to keep himself from it. It was kind of creepy to stare at someone you had never even talked to, even if it was because you thought they were kind of hot - wasn’t it? He would assume so. Mickey pressed play on the music, and without him even saying anything, everybody started up - most likely because they had been doing this particular dance for long enough that he didn’t have to.

 

Ian sat still on the floor, watching as his best friend moved. Almost every single dancer was in sync with the next one, their hips moving at the same time, their kicks happening in the same second. Mandy’s long, dark strands of hair flew a little bit all over the place as he had taken the hairtie out and put it around her wrist. The fact that this was the exact same routine as Ian had been here to witness the last time, that didn’t make it any less fascinating, if he was being honest. He would never be able to move his hips like that, or time his movements to the music. It was as if Mandy had individual strings tied to every single one of her muscles, somebody tugging at them as if she was a puppet, because somehow she could move one tiny part of her body without everything else following - Ian didn’t know how the fuck that was possible. The black fabric of Mandy’s baggy muscle tee moved with her body, hiding some of her, obviously but Ian could still see that she was a truly talented dancer - just as every single other person in the room. Well - every single person who was dancing.

 

Ian managed to keep his gaze on Mandy for almost an entire minute - which he should actually be rewarded for, because he knew that watching Mickey wouldn’t do him any good, but it was so fucking difficult to keep from it. Jesus fucking christ. Finally, Ian couldn’t control it, though. His eyes traveled to the man in the front. Mickey had been hot last time - his movements, his enthusiasm, of course. But the last time, his entire body had been covered in that large black hoodie - now he just had that damn white cotton v neck on. It was thin enough that Ian could almost see the outlines of his abs, even from the corner. His skin was already covered in a very thin layer of sweat, and Ian guessed that he had been dancing for a while before the class had actually begun.

 

Ian’s teeth nibbled at his tongue as he watched the man move to the music, looking as if he was something other than human. He wasn’t sure if Mickey was more talented than the others, or if it just looked that way to Ian because he was so fucking sexy even beyond the moves. Either way, Ian’s stomach was turning, forcing him to swallow more than usual to keep his throat and mouth from completely drying out. Mickey looked so fucking into it, as if he was in some kind of a bubble on his own, nobody else around. As if he didn’t give a single fuck about the people around him. It was just him. Him and the music. It was beautiful. The way he moved his hips, and the way he had the guts to shake and show off his body in the same way that the females did.

 

Beyond sexy, or beautiful, Mickey also looked… confident. Dare Ian even say cocky. He moved his gaze up to Mickey’s face for a moment; his eyebrows were furrowed, lips slightly parted as he concentrated - or maybe just straight up got lost. Ian swallowed once again, doing his best to make sure that his mouth wasn’t just a complete desert. He looked so fucking good. So good, in fact that Ian eventually had to move his eyes back to Mandy and try to forget about her brother for the rest of class, just so that his cock wouldn’t catch on to his thoughts way too much.

 

  
***

 

  
By the time class was ending, Mandy’s heart was beating heavily against her ribcage, her skin covered in that thin layer of sweat that always made her feel as if she had done something good and deserved to relax for the rest of the day; before she and Mickey had gotten into dancing, exercise had never been something that she had chosen to take much part in, she had never understood it. But now she did - she got why Ian was out almost every single day and ran for forty minutes straight - because that was his thing, and this was hers. It made her feel good about herself, something she had honestly struggled with growing up. The music was turned down, and all of the students kind of spread out all over the place while she collected the dark strands of her hair up, back into that ponytail so that she could tie the hairtie around it and get it all out of her face while she tried to get her pulse to slow down for a bit.

 

Mandy was going to turn around and walk back to Ian and her bag to see if he wanted to get some pizza today too, but before she could, her brother came up to her. They normally didn’t talk all too much in the studio, because they didn’t have to. They literally lived right next door to each other, so of course they were close, and they spent practically every single night smoking weed and drinking beer, so there was no point in acknowledging each other here.

 

“Hey” Mandy’s voice was slightly breathy as she looked at him, Mickey crossing his arms over his chest, his eyebrows casually raised, his lips parted to let out some of the breaths as his heart was probably struggling to slow down just as hers was. You wouldn’t think so, but dancing like that for that long actually took a fuck of a lot out of a human body.

 

“Aye” He said back, looking at her and pausing for a beat before he lifted his gaze and looked over her shoulder at the redhead in the corner, the guy looking down at the screen of his phone. “That your boyfriend or something? He’s been here a lot” Someone flipped the switch on the wall to turn on the fans in the ceiling, cooling everyone down and Mickey had never been more thankful for anything in his entire life what he could remember.

 

“No” Mandy shook her head. “That’s Ian. He’s not my boyfriend, I can have guy friends, Mick” She reminded him matter-of-factly, arms crossed over her chest as she watched her brother’s eyebrows raise a little bit higher - it wasn’t as if she was one to have a lot of guy friends, they both knew this. She usually banged them and then it would end. Not unlike Mickey. Mandy was quiet for another beat, knowing that she shouldn’t interfere. But as she looked at Mickey, she realized that though she didn’t understand what the fuck Ian found attractive about him, and despite the fact that she didn’t like the idea of them getting together - she did like to do something. And that was to pick at people’s lives and see if it made things better or worse. So she waited one more second, her breath calming down a little bit, and then she looked back to Mickey. “Think he might have a thing for you, though”

 

  
***

 

  
Ian looked down at the screen of his phone, finally answering a text from Fiona that he should have gotten to way earlier than just now. It was a rarity inside of this room, but his mind actually wasn’t on Mickey. That was - of course - until a voice made him look up.

 

“I’ve seen you in here a lot lately” Ian’s vocal chords seemed to somehow tie up when he lifted his head, eyes meeting a pair of striking blue ones. He swallowed, frantically trying to get himself to unfreeze as he locked his phone. Mickey seemed so casual, his arms crossed over his chest, muscles flexed in a way that didn’t help Ian with the whole eye contact thing, god fucking damn it. That mouth was pulled up into some kind of shape that wasn’t quite a smirk, but it was surely something in the family. Ian can remember Mandy mentioning something a long, long time ago about her brother being sure of himself - which didn’t exactly help Ian be the same.

 

“Uh, yeah” Fuck. It was quite literally the lamest answer ever. But what else was Ian supposed to say? He was just about completely frozen. This was the first time that he had ever stood in front of Mickey and actually talked to him, and he felt as if he was making a complete and utter fool of himself, like what the fuck was wrong with him? He wasn’t this insecure, awkward person - but Mickey looked so fucking good and he seemed as if he knew exactly what to do, exactly what to say so - yeah. Ian turned into an idiot.

 

“You interested in starting out?” So much of an idiot - in fact - that it took Ian quite a few seconds before the words registered in his brain, and he realized what Mickey meant by ‘starting out’.

 

“What - me? No” Ian shook his head, a couple of nervous chuckles escaping his lips - fuck. “No, I could never do that, not really my thing” That was an understatement - as much as he liked watching Mandy dance - or, maybe he should just fucking admit it - as sexy as he found Mickey when he danced, Ian would never be able to do that, his body had never been very coordinated when it came to dance. Or any kind of physical activity - well, in bed but right now he was getting way too ahead of himself.

 

“Oh, alright” Mickey nodded, their eyes still casually connected as the students around them collected their things, starting to drop out. “Why you here then, huh? I figured it was either that, or… you got a crush on me or some shit” Ian pretty much froze at the words, his lips parting just a little bit. How the fuck could Mickey just throw those words out into the air, and then just randomly be so fucking right - never mind. The dancer screwed the top off of his water bottle, lifting it to his lips, and as he did - Ian saw the huge fucking smirk on his lips. Fucking Mandy. She had promised she wouldn’t mess with them - Ian had even believed that she didn’t want shit to do with it, she had said so. Yet Mickey obviously knew and there was only one way he could have found out.

 

“Mandy’s got a big mouth” Ian spoke nervously, scratching the back of his neck. Fuck. It was like he was starstruck, only - Mickey wasn’t a celebrity, so… crush struck? Fuck, that sounded horrible. Either way Ian was nervous and he didn’t know how to handle the rest of this conversation. Especially knowing that Mickey knew about his crush. Gay or not, there was no guarantee at all that Mickey would ever like Ian back.

 

“She does” Mickey agreed, that smirk still not falling off of his lips. It was starting to make Ian’s stomach tingle.

 

“Ian, I’m gonna go now. I have work, you guys have fun and don’t fuck on my bed” Mandy spoke, walking past them both and making Ian clench his eyes shut in embarrassment as she exited the studio leaving the two of them alone except for a couple of girls across the floor in one of the corners, talking among themselves. Fuck. Ian should have known that she would interfere, he should have never let her onto the fact that he found Mickey so attractive, now he probably thought that Ian was a complete idiot and any chance of getting with him was gone - that was if there had ever been one, which Ian kind of doubted, if he was being honest.

 

“I’m really sorry” Ian shrugged, barely gathering up the courage to look into his eyes again. The smirk had fallen a little bit, but Mickey looked just as sure of himself as he had a moment ago, fuck. “I’m gonna go” Ian sighed then, mentally cursing himself for being so damn awkward as he scratched the back of his neck, turning around to walk towards the door. Mickey’s voice stopped him, though.

 

“Ian, right?” Ian turned around, his eyebrows a little bit raised, wondering why Mickey was calling him back. His arms hung limply by his sides, his throat working just a little bit better now, but it was still difficult to talk to Mickey just like this - damn it. If this wasn’t he hottest guy he had ever laid eyes on, even when he wasn’t dancing. Those blue eyes and those thick fucking lips that would look and feel perfect - no. No, Ian wasn’t going there. Ian nodded, and the smirk fell back onto Mickey’s lips. “You’re not gonna ask if you can take me out or some shit?”

 

Maybe that should have made Ian even more tense, maybe it should have made him act even more awkward. To say he was surprised at the statement - or question, whichever it technically was - would be an understatement. But Mickey looked and sounded so casual, that fucking smile or smirk or whatever the fuck it would be classified as still staying stuck on his lips. And something inside of Ian just relaxed, his mouth forming a smile as well, eyes on each other’s.

 

“Will you go on a date with me?” Mickey’s head started moving up and down before the last syllable had even left Ian’s mouth.

 

“Yes” The dancer said somewhat casually.

 

“Tomorrow night?” Ian’s tongue darted out to swipe across his bottom lip, his heart struggling to stay calm while Mickey nodded a couple of more times.

 

“You can pick me up here at eight”

 

  
***

 

  
Ian wasn’t really the type of guy to be nervous, or the type of guy to get crushes this big. But as he pulled the door open to walk into the building - yes. He was fucking nervous. He was even a little bit worried about whether he was dressed good enough or not - and what was going on with that? Ian had decided that it would be best to take Mickey to the movies - it was casual and easy, and if he were to take him out to a fancy dinner or something along those lines then there would be so much pressure. Besides - Ian wasn’t really the kind of person to feel completely comfortable with those kinds of dates, and he knew Mandy wasn’t so he could only assume that her brother wasn’t all that different. Fuck - Mandy’s brother. It did seem wrong. But Mickey had said yes and Ian’s crush on this guy was way too big for him not to see where it could go.

 

The clean, white henley wasn’t at all too tight around Ian’s body, though it wasn’t oversized either. It hugged him in all the right places, and although he knew that he looked good in it, all he could do as he headed down the stairs and towards the dance studios was to be nervous. Of course he was nervous. The blue jeans that sat around his legs felt wrong, and the old sneakers on his feet felt as if they were laced way too tightly. All of it disappeared, though, when he walked inside of the only studio that still had the lights on. Mickey was standing in the corner furthest away from Ian, right by the stereo as he seemed to be packing things together, cleaning up and probably getting ready to close. His back was turned to Ian, so he didn’t notice him at first.

 

It wasn’t very long, but for a few moments, Ian just stood there. trying to figure out why he had been so nervous. Yes - he didn’t know Mickey well at all, and yes - Mickey was fucking gorgeous, but… why had he been nervous? Although, in a way he still was nervous - his heart was beating faster than usual, and that weird, tingly feeling was still settled in the pit of his stomach, but… he wasn’t nervous in a bad way anymore. It was a good way now.

 

“Mickey?” Mickey turned around at the sound of Ian’s voice, their eyes connecting from across the floor. Ian could see Mickey’s mouth pulling up into a smile right as it happened, and he couldn’t help but do the same. No doubt they both had the first date jitters. The best kind of jitters.

 

“Hey, man” Mickey answered soon, and Ian swallowed. What was it about this guy - how the hell could he both be charming, hot as all fucking hell, talented, seemingly kind - and agree to go out with Ian? Technically it was even Mickey who had asked Ian out, and not the other way around. It didn’t make much sense how one human being could be all of that, but Ian would take it. “Let me put a couple more things away and we’ll go, alright?”

 

Ian could do nothing but nod at that, Mickey turning around to wrap up what looked to be the cords of a few small stereos and a couple of t shirts. Ian pulled his phone out of his pocket, leaning back against the wall as he waited for his date to be finished. The first thing he noticed was a text from Mandy - of course. She may not be into the idea of her best friend getting together with her brother, but she sure as fuck was into the idea of getting something out of it - such as teasing them both. Ian thought about answering it with the most sarcastic thing he could possibly think of, but instead he ended up locking the device, pushing it back into the pocket to keep from it. He didn’t want to think about Mandy tonight, it was about Mickey. He wanted to get to know the guy beyond ‘the hot dancer’.

 

The next time that Ian looked up, Mickey was taking the steps over the floor, walking to him. Damn, he looked confident. And good, too. Fuck, he looked good. He wasn’t dressed all too differently from Ian - he was wearing a henley as well, although his was black and not white like Ian’s. The buttons on it were closed while all three of Ian’s were open. He looked as if he had just taken a shower, which made sense, Ian supposed. He had asked him to pick him up here, so he had probably had some classes before; his hair looked fucking amazing, styled in a way that Ian had never seen it before. A leather jacket was draped off of his arm, and Ian couldn’t decide if he liked this look on Mickey better than when he was sweaty and exhausted - both were probably equally good if he was being honest.

 

“So I know we were joking or whatever, but um…” Mickey started, bending down a little bit to the side to pick a black gym bag up off of the floor, opening it up and digging through it. Either it was his own and he was looking for something, or he was trying to figure out who it belonged to. “You really never thought about dancing? You look like you’d be good at it” The dancer commented, getting a wallet out of the bag and then zipping it back up, dropping it to the floor as he pushed the item down into the back pocket of his jeans, looking at Ian.

 

“If you think you’re paying tonight, you’re crazy” Ian couldn’t help but comment, to which Mickey just snorted, shaking his head a little bit. Somehow they just seemed to slip into some kind of natural banter despite the fact that this was only the second time they had spoken - though that slight tension was still there. Of course it was, but that was a good thing as far as Ian saw it. “But maybe you are anyway, because I’m a lot of things - body coordinated is not one of them.” Ian laughed, turning around to walk out of the studio. He had only taken one or two steps over the threshold, though, when he noticed that Mickey wasn’t following. As he turned around, the dancer was still standing in the same spot, an unreadable expression on his face. “What?”

 

“Come on” Ian frowned, but obeyed when Mickey nodded his head inside of the studio again. The brunet dropped his jacket to the floor, nudging it with his foot to get it out of the way before turning completely to his date, raising his eyebrows.

 

“What?” Ian couldn’t help but repeat his previous word, praying to anyone who might be listening that Mickey didn’t mean what he thought he might.

 

“Dance, man.” And there went all fucking hope. Fuck no. Ian couldn’t dance just like that - he would be terrible and it would be the most mortifying moment of his entire life. Mickey would never speak to him again, much less continue their date.

 

“I’m not doing that, why?” Ian wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or not - Mickey wasn’t smiling. Well - he was smiling, but he wasn’t grinning as if he was messing with Ian. He seemed to be serious. “Are you serious, Mickey?” Mickey just shrugged.

 

“I don’t believe you, we gotta settle this” He nodded. The last thing Ian wanted to do was to be the kind of guy that said no to shit just because he wasn’t comfortable. In a way, he supposed he wanted to impress Mickey by giving in if that made sense - but then that would be incredibly counterproductive because if he actually did dance, then that would do anything but impress his date. Fuck, he was stuck. “It’s not that difficult, man. Come on” Mickey seemed to catch on, that grin still on his face as they both stood next to each other, facing the mirror, staying quite close to the door but taking a few steps closer. Ian hated watching himself in that thing - not that he disliked how he looked, but he was on a first date. His confidence was so much lower than usual, especially around someone like Mickey, holy fuck. He looked so good. “Move your hips. Like this, alright? That’s like main shit”

 

Mickey started doing just that - rolling his hips around in a circle as if it was nothing, as if they weren’t even attached to the rest of his body, god fucking damn it. Mickey was looking at himself, making sure he was doing it right which gave Ian the opportunity to do the same - look at Mickey, that was.

 

“You’re not even fucking trying, come on, man” Mickey snorted, and Ian’s eyes snapped back up to his face rather than - other places. Their faces turned to one another rather than them looking through the mirror, and Ian swallowed.

 

“There’s no music, Mickey. And I’m fucking terrible, alright? Let’s just go” Ian didn’t mean it - not really. He was terrible at dancing, that wasn’t the lie. The lie was ‘let’s just go’ because he was kind of enjoying this somewhat childish, bantering moment with Mickey. It was easy. A fuck of a lot easier than maybe it should be. Maybe Mickey saw through that, because he rolled his eyes, fishing his phone out of his pocket, looking down at the screen for a few moments. Then that song came on - work, the one that Ian had heard so much through both of the classes he had sat through. It wasn’t nearly as strong as it was through the actual speakers in the studio, obviously, but it worked.

 

“Come on, man. Here” Before Ian could really register the fact that he was moving, Mickey was standing right behind him instead, his hands curled around his hips, making for an incredible distraction. This was fucking hardcore flirting - more so than anything that maybe could exist on a first date, but Ian was oh so okay with it. “Look in the mirror” Mickey spoke then, and Ian realized that he had been looking down to his hip, watching the tattooed knuckles. He forced himself to look up, not really able to focus on himself. That heavy, warm feeling of Mickey’s hands was too… fuck. So distracting. So so distracting. All Ian wanted to do was to turn around and slam him up against the wall, but that would be crossing a line so he stood still. Eyes focused on himself and mind anywhere but.

 

“Are you just doing this to have an excuse to touch me?” Ian bit the inside of his bottom lip when Mickey answered his question with a simple ‘yes’. He was unabashedly honest, too. God fucking damn it, why did he seem to perfect so far? And how had Mandy been hiding this guy from him for so many months? Fuck her right now.

 

The music continued reaching Ian’s ears, but it was just a little bit more muffled at this point since Mickey had tucked his phone back into his pocket. Ian could feel the dancer’s grip on his body tighten, and though they were looking at each other, Ian was so incredibly distracted. It was as if he just didn’t know what the fuck to do with himself. He managed to keep somewhat in control, though. On the outside it probably wasn’t all that obvious. Hopefully.

 

“Move your hips, man. Like this” Mickey spoke then, and Ian was almost able to feel his breath on his shoulder even through the fabric of his shirt. He felt the dancer put some pressure on his body, somehow pushing him to the side. Ian swallowed, feeling it was impossible to focus on his own body when Mickey’s was so close, but he looked down at the floor, furrowing his eyebrows as he actually tried - gave it a try to move his hips in the way that he had seen Mickey, Mandy and every other dancer do. Move his hips without moving the rest of his body. It went terrible, Ian couldn’t possibly be doing it right. But Mickey stayed behind him, not saying anything as he used his hands to push at Ian’s hips, doing something to make Ian feel like less of a failure. “Try some more, man. Follow” Mickey mumbled then, and Ian swallowed through the nervous thickness in his throat, trying harder. Following Mickey’s hands as he had requested as he pushed his hips from side to side. Surely it didn’t look even close to what it looked like when someone who was talented - and experienced - did it. But Ian felt as if he wasn’t doing completely horrible. “See? You’re doing it. I was right” Mickey spoke then over the music, a slightly teasing chuckle to his voice.

 

Ian turned his head, parting his lips to say something back - but however cheesy or ridiculous it seemed, he completely lost his train of thought when Mickey was looking back, their noses almost bumping thanks to the fact that Mickey’s hands were still resting on his body. It wasn’t as if Mickey hadn’t counted this out - maybe Ian had too, subconsciously. They were just flirting, neither of them had actually really cared about Ian learning how to roll his hips - please. But that didn’t mean that the air wasn’t tense as they looked at each other, Ian’s face blank and Mickey smirking, his fingertips digging into Ian’s body a little bit more now, the feeling warm even through Ian’s shirt.

 

“It um… wouldn't make me much of a gentleman if I kissed you before I actually took you out, would it?” A soft, amused sigh came out of Mickey’s nose, his face easing closer to Ian’s, their noses actually resting against each other now. Ian swallowed, the music completely out of his mind by now. All he could hear and see was Mickey. Fuck - he didn’t really know the guy, but he couldn’t help what a strong pull he felt towards him. It was completely ineffable. He was just about to close his eyes and go in for it, except -

 

“Nah. Buy me a tub of popcorn, then we’ll make out” Then Mickey’s hands were off of Ian’s body, a few chuckles reaching his ears as he took a few steps away from the taller man. Ian bit the inside of his bottom lip, trying to keep himself from grinning. Fucking teasing bastard.

 

  
***

 

  
“Are you fucking kidding me?” The words came out of both of their mouths at the exact same time as they looked at the sign outside of the movie theatre. Ian really should have made sure that it was open today - what kind of a shitty ass date was he anyway? He hadn’t even planned anything else in case shit went wrong. And here they were - in the middle of everything going wrong. Their reaction to the movies being closed up for renovation wasn’t even half as Ian’s reaction when they had walked up the stairs, only to face one of the worst rain storms that he had ever seen. Rain. Nothing to do, that was a great date. It wasn’t as if Mickey would think he was pathetic or anything. Of course not. Fuck.

 

Ian had so badly wanted this all to go well - he hadn’t been this into someone in quite a few years. And now, instead of standing out in the sun waiting to get their tickets like he had wanted - they were trapped on a rain soaked sidewalk under a tiny roof, people rushing up and down and Ian didn’t know where to take Mickey now. Sure, they could go get pizza but the pizza place had been completely packed when they had passed it - probably people just like them who just wanted somewhere to go to wait for the storm to pass. What the fuck? Why now? Those were the only words echoing throughout Ian’s brain. Why now, why this, why were they trapped in some sort of romantic movie - only he wasn’t really feeling the romance when he was actually in it with the cold rain and the loud people.

 

“What do you want to do, Mickey? Where do you want to go? I’m so fucking sorry, I should have checked this shit.” Ian asked, shaking his head through a sigh as he watched Mickey cross his arms and look to the other side of the street. What if Ian had completely fucked this shit up? How could this night take a turn? They were trapped in rain bad enough that you could barely see three meters ahead of you. Even if they did figure out somewhere to go, something to do, they would be soaked when they got there, especially since they didn’t have a car. No one fucking did here, there was no reason to. The small roof ahead of them kept them a little bit dry - well, kept them from getting more soaked with rain than they already were - but the rain was going crazy, so they did feel it a little bit.

 

Mickey turned his head back then, and Ian had expected him to look bored or annoyed. Yet - for some fucked up reason - he was smirking. Or - just smiling, maybe.

 

“Kiss me” Ian frowned, looking at the people around him for a moment before focusing his eyes back on his date, wondering what the fuck was wrong with him. That he could like this - he seemed to be. Ian had to ask - had to be sure.

 

“What?” Mickey snorted, shrugging.

 

“You took me out, right? Technically. And you can’t buy me a fucking tub of popcorn, so…” Mickey looked up at the roof above them both for a second, Ian frowning now as his date backed up a little bit, their eyes connecting once again. “Now’s as good of a fucking time as any, right?” Mickey continued backing up until he was free of the roof, the rain going back to completely soaking him from head to toe. He wanted the movie kiss - the kiss in the rain. Maybe it was cheesy as fuck, but they had all of the things to make it happen - rain, a failed date, so why not? Ian gnawed at the inside of his bottom lip. There were still people all around them - they were by now means left alone. But Mickey didn’t seem to care so maybe Ian didn’t either.

 

Mickey stood in the rain, relaxed as he looked at Ian. Just waiting. Then Ian swallowed, and he went for it, taking the two, long strides out into the pouring storm, placing his hands on either side of Mickey’s face, their lips softly slipping in between one another’s. There it was - their cheesy ass first kiss.

 

  
***

 

  
The rain was showing no signs of slowing down whatsoever - rather the opposite - , so only about fifteen minutes later, both Ian and Mickey were running into Mickey’s building, ducking their heads a little bit and trying not to become way too soaked, though that ship had pretty much sailed. Finally, Ian heard the large, metal door to the apartment building close behind them and he relaxed a little bit, his heart slowing down. They had both been running for a while, so as they started walking up the steps, heavy clothes clinging to their bodies, they couldn’t really find the bother to say anything much to each other. Mickey walked a couple of steps above Ian, and their wet shoes made loud noises on the marble.

 

Finally, they made it to the top step, and Ian reached up, running a hand over the wet strands on top of his head, pushing the hair back and out of his face. He knew that the white t shirt hadn’t been much of a smart choice, but to be fair he couldn’t possibly have known that it was going to rain this much - or that they would be trapped out in it. Fuck, he was a failure. This was a failed date and no matter how much Mickey didn’t seem to care, Ian did. He had wanted this to be good, to be a normal date. A good first date that maybe ended with a kiss goodnight - instead they were soaked and they hadn’t done anything. Except kiss, Ian remembered, smiling down at the floor while Mickey walked up to the door beside the one Ian was used to entering. That kiss had been fucking amazing.

 

“Hey, I’m sorry this was such a fail. I’ll take you out again, make it up to you” Ian said, breaking the silence. Mickey turned around by the door, their eyes connecting, a few meters separating them as they stood in the dark stairwell - it looked a lot more expensive than it was. The large door was even mostly glass. It all looked very old, and somehow modern at the same time.

 

“Yeah” Mickey agreed. Then he was silent, and Ian watched the other man look down at his chest, making him remember that his shirt was most likely just about completely see through at this point. “Or you could make it up to me now” Ian swallowed, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards when their eyes connected again, Mickey biting his bottom lip, just a little bit, his eyebrows raising. He looked so fucking good, just standing in front of his door like that, completely soaked. Like hell Ian was saying no. Although -

 

“On a first date?” He could have a little bit fun teasing him first. Ian bit down at the inside of his bottom lip to keep from grinning way too big, the rain continued to pour down outside of the building, slamming down onto the glass of the door behind him as they looked at each other.

 

“I look like I’m classy enough to have a three day rule or some shit?”

 

“It’s three date rule” Ian corrected, raising his eyebrows, Mickey doing the same.

 

“You just made my fucking point. Unless you don’t want to - I can just call someone else and - “ Ian had had enough of Mickey’s voice in the moment that he took those few steps forwards and wrapped his hands around his hips, slamming him up against the wall and successfully shutting him up with his mouth. Mickey just seemed to completely melt into his touch, wrapping his arms around his neck and returning the kiss just as eagerly. Their soaked chests pressed to one another for a moment before they proceeded to stumble a little bit so that Mickey could reach behind himself and open the door to the dark apartment.

 

Since Mickey’s studio apartment was pretty much completely identical to Mandy’s where Ian had spent a ton of time before, he could easily tighten his grip on the other man, pushing him towards the bed without looking or wondering where it was. Mickey’s leather jacket was pushed off of his shoulders and down onto the floor, both of their shirts soon joining the piece of clothing. Their lips continued working against each other, not much more than tongue and saliva making it up.

 

The rain continued to pour down, chattering against the large window right behind Mickey’s bed. The pattern of the drops seemed to somehow match the buzzing in the pit of Ian’s stomach, and he knew that though this was way too early to think about - he surely felt something more than pure sexual attraction to Mickey. There was something here, something. There just had to be. Their lips continued nipping at each other, tongues sliding together as their jeans joined their shirts and Mickey’s jacket on the floor.

 

Ian deepened the kiss, teeth scratching against Mickey’s bottom lip as he pushed him back onto the bed, climbing on top of him. Mickey’s hands were on the back of his neck, tugging at the red strands of hair, lifting his hips up to press their swelling cocks together, Ian grinding down at the same time, making moans well into each other’s mouths as desperate hands continued grabbing at flesh, lips sucking at lips while they tumbled around on the bed.

 

First date aside, this wasn’t special. No fucking candles, nothing was planned out and like hell they were going slow. It couldn’t possibly be anything other than fucking tonight because to do something more meaningful, you had to have feelings for the other person, and to have feelings, you had to actually know them in the first place.

 

They tuned the rain back in, the sound blending perfectly with the sound of their heavy breaths as they went all the way, groaning into each other’s mouths. Ian and Mickey may be getting there, but they had only met a few days before, this could only be fucking - and tonight, they were okay with it. Despite the fact that they also knew that someday soon - it would be so much more.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this was originally gonna be much longer. And then it was going to be my big bang entry. But then I came up with another idea for my big bang and since I'm guessing my entry will have to be at least 80k for me to do it justice, I need to start soon. And I can't focus if I have a half written, messy one shot in my documents already. I can only have like multi chaps started, as long as I don't have a chapter going, if that makes sense. I can't drop something and then write something else, it's impossible for me to focus, personally. Long story shot (too late) I decided to finish this up even though it's a lot shorter than it was originally meant to be. Yeah. So here it is. 
> 
> I hope that you all have a really great day <3


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